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Ann Hasseltine (1789-1826)
}} Biography Ann Hasseltine Judson was one of the first female American foreign missionaries. She attended the Bradford Academy and during a revival there read Scriptures on the Modern System of Female Education by Hannah More, which led her to "seek a life of 'usefulness'".1 Born in Bradford, Massachusetts, she was a teacher from graduation until marriage. Her father, John Hasseltine, was a deacon at the church that hosted the gathering that founded the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and according to Ann's sister Ann and family first met her husband Adoniram Judson at that time. Marriage and Mission Call On September 19, Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) was appointed by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions as a missionary to the East. Judson was also commissioned by the Congregational Church, and soon married Ann Hasseltine on February 5, 1812. He was ordained the next day at the Tabernacle Church in Salem, Massachusetts. On February 19, he set sail aboard the brig Caravan with Luther Rice; Samuel and Harriett Newell; and his wife, Ann (known as "Nancy") Judson. She married Adoniram in 1812, and two weeks later they embarked on their mission trip to India. The following year, they moved on to Burma. Life in Burma While in Burma, the couple's first undertaking was to acquire the language of the locals. Missionary efforts followed, with the first local converting to Christianity in 1819.6 Due to liver problems, Ann returned to the United States briefly in 1822–23.7 Nancy visits Adoniram in prison During the first Anglo-Burmese war (1824–26), her husband was imprisoned for 17 months under suspicion of being an English spy, and Ann moved into a shack outside the prison gates so as to support her husband. She lobbied vigorously for months to convince the authorities to release her husband and his fellow prisoners, but her efforts were unsuccessful. She also sent food and sleeping mats to the prisoners to help their time in prison to be more bearable.8 During this time, Ann wrote stories of life on the mission field and the struggles she faced. She wrote tragic descriptions of child marriages, female infanticide, and the trials of the Burmese women who had no rights except for the ones their husbands gave them. Ann's health was fragile by the time her husband was released. Her efforts to be near him when he was moved to a new location, all while she was nursing a newborn child, had involved strenuous travel and living conditions that may have contributed to her illness.9 After her husband's release they both remained in Burma to continue their work. Ann died at Amherst, Lower Burma, of smallpox in 1826. Marriage and Family She had three pregnancies. The first ended in a miscarriage while moving from India to Burma; their son Roger was born in 1815 and died at eight months of age, and their third child, Maria, lived for only six months after her mother's death. Vital Records Burial Hill Monument The Adoniram Judson Memorial is located at '''Plymouth Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts. However it is not their final resting place, multiple records indicate he was buried at sea off the coast of Burma. The names of other family members are recorded here. * Adoniram Judson - Youtube Video. References * * Adoniram Judson (1788-1850)/Immigrant Ancestors __SHOWFACTBOX__ Category:People from Haverhill, Massachusetts Category:People of the First Anglo-Burmese War Category:Baptist missionaries from the United States Category:Baptist missionaries in Myanmar Category:Baptist missionaries in India Category:Translators of the Bible into Burmese Category:Deaths from smallpox Category:Female Christian missionaries Category:Infectious disease deaths in Myanmar Category:Women in 19th-century warfare Category:Women in war in Southeast Asia Category:American expatriates in India Category:American expatriates in Myanmar Category:Translators to Thai Category:People from Bradford, Massachusetts